Across the Multiverse
by Beastial Moon
Summary: Sequel to Emotional Brew. Shortly after Marlene gets a new Roommate, they both wind up missing. To save Marlene, The penguins will have to face their greatest enemies yet - Skipper's Past, and Blowhole's Mentor. Finally Complete! Rated for Charater death.
1. Old Friends Returned

Across the Multiverse

I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any related parties. All belong to their respective owners. Sequel to my previous story, Emotional Brew. Shortly after a new otter arrives at Marlene's habitat, Marlene and the otter go missing. Now the penguins will have to face their two greatest enemies – Skipper's past, and Blowhole's Mentor. Secrets will be revealed, and some will destroy us all.

Marlene awoke to Skipper's barking of orders. This was followed in quick succession by the silent splashing of water. After a year or so of being in the zoo, she had grown used to them. Especially skipper. Her clock read 7:15. Fifteen minutes later than usual. She smiled. Perhaps they were finally getting the rest they needed.

She worried about the penguins consistently, seeing as they were her family now. She especially worried about skipper, the leader of the team. Marlene and Skipper had a "thing" going for a while. The rest of his team thought he was under the influence of love potion 37. IN fact, he was perfectly healthy. Their relationship ended on a moonlit night, when skipper told her what he had done. Their hearts still yearned for each other, but they also knew better than to get involved in any type of long-term relationship.

Marlene stood up to go eat breakfast.

PENGUINS HQ

Private and Rico were Capture the Flag on Call of Duty 4.

"This is much more sophisticated than the real world. In the real world, you can use your instincts. This is to show how well you can do without your instincts." Skipper told them. Kowalski flew into the HQ.

"Zoo Transfer!" he yelled.

"Marlene is getting a new room mate!" He went on.

"Good Gravy! Is it Rhonda again?"

"Negatory, Skipper. From my calculations it should be another Asian otter. Male." Skipper was mentally panicking. He hoped no one noticed.

"What time?" he asked

"Somewhere around nine hundred hours." Bam!

"WOO HOO!" Rico called out.

"Rico beat me, skippah" Private announced.

"Very good. Go through it again. Kowalski, You're in charge. I'm going to head up to Marlene's."

"Alright Skipper." Kowalski was the only one who suspected something had happened between them.

Skipper came out of Marlene's secret entrance. Marlene didn't even flinch.

"You're guard is going down, Marlene." He said. She shrugged.

"I know I can handle anything that comes out of that passageway." She smirked. Skipper smiled back.

"Anyway, there's a new zoo transfer. You're getting another room mate again."

"Is it Rhonda?" she asked.

"No, I asked that too. It's another Asian Otter…"

"When does she get here?"

"Yeah… She is a He. It's a male otter." Marlene's eyes lit up. Skipper was sorely disappointed at that. But he had had his chance, and he blew it.

"Well, if there's anything I can help you with…"

"You can wait for him with me." She smiled, and sat down on the floor. Skipper sat beside her, and they rested on each other for a long time. Their hearts beat as one, echoing across time and space.

Two hours later…

Kowalski walked into the cave. He saw Marlene and Skipper, both asleep.

"Skipper…Skipper…" Kowalski shook him gently, trying to wake him. Skipper groaned.

"Ugh… Kowalski, what time is it?"  
"Nine fifteen, sir." Skipper was immediately on his feet.

"Is he here?" He asked. Marlene was slowly waking up as well. She yawned.

"Yes, he is." Kowalski answered. "We are waiting your orders. He is still in the crate." The three of them walked outside. Private and Rico were guarding a small wooden crate.

"Someone? Anyone?" a male voice came from inside the crate.

"I know that voice…" skipper muttered

"Rico! Crowbar!" Skipper ordered. Rico coughed up a metallic crowbar and opened the side.

A brown, Asian Otter stepped out of the crate. "Thank you mis amigos! It was Moy dark in there." He said.

Skipper's mouth hung open.

"Nicolai?"

"Skipper? Oh how good it is to see you!" Skipper stood in shock. Letting his senses get back to him, he shook his head.

"But you're dead!" Nicolai laughed.

"I just pretended so you could go on and finish the job. Comprende?"

"Comprende." Skipper smiled. "Nothing to be worried about here boys, it's an old friend. Marlene's in good hands." He walked out of the habitat, and the rest followed.

Which left Marlene and Nicolae in an awkward silence.

"Sooo… do you like Spanish guitar?" she asked.

"I do not hate it, if that is what you ask."

"Oh."

"I see you and Skipper have a thing going." He teased

"Wha – How – No we don't!" Nicolai just smiled

**And so, we have the first chapter. Next chapter I hope to get up soon. Enjoy, please R & R!**


	2. Missing in Action Found Out

**I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar. All credit goes to the original creators, Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell. Nicolai may not show up very often, seeing as he is not a central character. That being said, on with the show.**

The zoo was quiet.

Too quiet.

It was a normal day at the zoo, only days after the arrival of Nicolai. He and Skipper hung out some, but mostly he was with Marlene. And skipper left them be. But today was going to change everything.

Kowalski and Private were in a chess match. Rico was cleaning his weapons. Skipper sipped his fish coffee. Suddenly, through the tunnel, they saw a bright light. It flashed, and was gone. The penguins immediately whipped into action. They got to Marlene's in a manner of seconds. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough.

They couldn't tell what had happened. They had left no trace.

"Kowalski! Analysis!" Kowalski penned down some notes, frantically trying to come up with an answer. He finally came up with one, and told Skipper his analysis.

"Well, it appears they have disappeared without a trace. I do have her DNA from that Love –u - Lator experiment still. Perhaps we could use the DNA scanner to search for her." Kowalski suggested

"Hmmm…. Very well. Get to it!" they slid back to the HQ. Skipper paced frantically, waiting for Kowalski to come out with the DNA scanner. It was only a few minutes, but it felt like forever to Skipper. Finally, Kowalski came out with the Scanner.

"Here we go." He placed the q-tip into the one end. The TV lit up with a map of the park.

"Not in the zoo… checking New York." No dots appeared.

"Not in New York… Checking North America." Still no dots showed up.

"Not in North America… checking Earth." They waited as the machine sifted through the information. The slow, steady beeping was killing all of them. Rico, impatient, growled at the machine.

"Skipper, it appears she has ceased to exist. She has disappeared from this earth altogether!"Kowalski exclaimed. "I have never heard of this before... this is amazing!"

"This earth, you say? Check the others." Skipper ordered. Kowalski was psyching out on the alternate universes.

Kowalski spread the perimeter search out further, to check other earths in other universes.

"There she is! Quadrant 9!" Private announced.

"Skipper, it's going to be a lot more than a simple road trip to get to is going to take time to build a trans-universal teleportation device." Kowalski told him.

Skipper just looked at him. "Then get to work!" He ordered. He was really worried. Was it Blowhole? He couldn't see how… unless…

HE was back. But he could not fathom the horror the others would have to face… Private especially. He was scared to death of the Zombie incident. Imagine if he learned of his own Past! Private was helping Kowalski in his lab. Skipper was going over plans, and Rico was stocking up on weapons.

The fate of Marlene relied on how fast they could get to her.

"Kowalski! How long is it going to take to make this machine?" he asked his lieutenant.

"About a day, day and a half." He answered. Kowalski hadn't even looked up from his work. Skipper sighed. Kowalski noticed Skipper's impatience. He really missed her already. Kowalski looked skipper in the eye.

"Skipper, I miss Marlene too, but it's going to take some time. Traveling to an alternate universe is not like going to Coney Island. There are a lot of risks involved."

Skipper nodded. He just hoped they wouldn't have to face HIM. The team would not survive.

Suddenly, static came through the DNA scanner. "Peng-oo-ins… I have you…" the voice said. "Blowhole!" Skipper declared. They looked at the television screen. Sure enough, there was Blowhole, with Marlene behind him in a cage.

"Do you miss her, Skipper? I'm sure you do. I've heard your screams of terror in you nightmares. Well, guess what, Skipper! Your nightmare has come true! For I have your girlfriend!" Blowhole laughed. "And the sad part is that you had to go behind your team's back to be with her. Oh, tsk tsk tsk!" Rico, Private and Kowalski looked at him accusingly. Blowhole logged off the screen, and the TV went blank.

"Um, boys, I can explain…" and he told them what had happened.

**And there you have it. Part one of the plot line. Skipper finally told them what had happened in the previous story. Next chapter, a part of Skipper's secret past is revealed (not involving Denmark) and the rescue begins. R & R!**


	3. Confessions

**And Chapter 3! The big Reveal. I almost went with a dream sequence for this chapter, but I looked at other Fan Fictions and saw that that idea was already taken. So, I chose to do it this way. Also, I want to take a moment to talk about the rating. There is NOT going to be anything higher than a kiss in my stories, but they will get violent, Bloody and Graphic. I hope you understand this, and if you are offended by anything I write, I did write this warning. Enjoy! I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar. All rights go to respected owners.**

Confessions

Skipper looked at his team's expressions. Rico and Private's was shock. Kowalski, however, was smiling. Apparently he had figured this all out already. Kowalski took out his notebook again. He gasped when he noticed the day.

"Skipper, why didn't you tell us it's your birthday!?" he asked.

"Umm…because … that's classified, soldier." Skipper was getting nervous. If they started asking questions, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. There were some things they needed to know. Private did ask the question.

"Yay! How old are you, Skippah?" Private clapped his hands gleefully. Skipper sighed.

"32." He answered slowly. Kowalski looked at his notes.

"Skipper, according to this you have been 32 for a long time now. Is there anything you wish to tell us?"

"Alright. I can't lie to you men. Actually, I could, but it wouldn't be right. You have been my friends for a long time, and deserve to know." He left reality, and returned to his subconscious, the memories he had suppressed for so long and the sadness that came with them. Thus began the flashback

"I was not born in captivity, as is popular belief. I came from Antarctica, and, I suspect, a very different Antarctica. Blowhole was not my enemy…he was my best friend. His full name is Jonathan C. Blowhole. My name was Skipper Orca-Feeder. We did everything together. We were young – and Naïve." Kowalski, Rico and Private sat down and listened to his tale.

"As we grew up in our tiny community, I started to see that he had a darker side of him than I had anticipated. Unfortunately for me, I noticed it too late. Maybe I could have saved him. I don't know. But that comes later. What you need to know is that he was the fighter, and I was the peacemaker. A pacifist."

"One day, we were racing up to the top of the tallest iceberg. We were neck and neck, wrestling on the last foot. We ended up in a fierce tie, which is worse than anyone winning or losing. I stopped to rest. Blowhole grabbed my shoulder, and pulled me up. We looked at the majestic view for a little. I remember whispering 'Beautiful'. We started to go back down, and everything went wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong."

"We started to turn, but were interrupted by a flash of light and rustle of wind. A voice spoke to us. 'Stop,' it said. 'Do not turn around.' We watched as the scene before us changed drastically. Instead of a sleepy penguin village, we now saw these pink fleshy things walking with tall machines and cages. I now know them to be humans."

Rico was eating popcorn. Kowalski was taking notes, and Private was acting like it was story time while trying to stay awake.

"They had hundreds of penguins, orcas, and sea lions in cages. There were tall structures made of something foreign. Other strange animals were helping them. Many were bleeding to death. The ice was red, and packed with carcasses. And the fleshy creatures just sat there and laughed. That was the most horrific part…those cold, ruthless laughs. I hope to never hear it again." Skipper shuddered from the memory.

"But it's still there, vivid as ever."

"He told us that this was the future, and if we joined him we could stop it from happening. We just needed to say yes. Blowhole, my best friend….turned from his philosophy. He said yes. I said no. the voice told him to turn around." Skipper started forming tears in his eyes.

"I didn't think it was right to mess with time… if it was time we were messing with in the first place. Something didn't fit. Before I could figure anything out, the ice underneath me gave way. I fell, falling, falling, what felt like forever. It was pitch black. My eyes were open…and yet, I opened them, like waking up from a terrible dream. I looked and my surroundings, and found myself here."

Skipper looked around. His team was completely mesmerized.

"I taught myself to fight, and when the zoo got three new penguins, I decided to teach them as well. Blowhole was on the loose, doing who knows what to the universe. He isn't the villain though… the voice is. He is commanded by the voice, and for that I pity him."

Private looked at skipper with wide eyes. "You/re not from the zoo?" he whispered. "No, private. I believe I explained that already."

Kowalski was flipping his abacas. He found a page that described how Skipper had got to them. "Skipper, it appears you are from another universe. Now, if my theory is correct… how old are you?"

"32"

"How long have you been 32, Skipper?"

"Since the zoo opened in 1864." Kowalski felt very sorry for Skipper now. He hoped this could be solved…but somehow, he knew it wouldn't. He told the rest of them what he had gathered with that information.

"With that knowledge, it appears you do not age in this universe because you were not Born in this universe. And if you were to somehow take Marlene back to yours, she would not age. Either way, One of you will live forever while the other one will die."

**R & R! I love this Cliffhanger! Next chapter will be up soon. **


	4. Traveling

**The next chapter! Hope to get some more reviews, and I do accept flames, but please be nice about it. If I get too many, I won't allow anymore. And Here we go!!! The chapter starts off with Marlene trapped.**

**Traveling**

AU - Marlene

Marlene laid inside her cage. Hurt and confused, she looked around at her surroundings. She dared not cry. Skipper wouldn't. What would skipper do? She looked around the bars. There was a laser lock on the outside. Picking it was out of the question. She didn't have anything that could help her. She waited for the penguins.

Waiting was taking a long time. She thought back to how she got here, wherever "here" was. It was just that morning when Nicolai tried to show her something, and got tackled by him. Captured, they – teleported – somewhere, where he and Blowhole locked her in the cage.

She should have seen it coming. Blowhole was real, not that it made a difference. She'd remember to apologize to Private later. She paced, still waiting.

Penguins HQ, Next Day

"Kowalski! Is it done yet?" Skipper asked.

"Just a moment…. Yes!" Kowalski answered. He set in coordinates on a small game boy screen. Numbers flashed across the screen, and the small blue pad it was connected to lit up. It glowed with an essence of something supernatural.

"Is it – Safe?" Private asked

"Absolutely. I even added a safe Meter." Kowalski pointed to the small meter on the side. It was in the red.

"Umm, Kowalski, it's in the red. Are you absolutely sure it's safe?" Private asked again.

"Yes, it's supposed to be in the red. Red is a good color and promises safety."  
"Kowalski, that's green."

"Oh. Anyway, it is safe. I tested it with a roach."

Rico gasped. "No, it wasn't one of your 'bros', Rico." Rico sighed.

Skipper interrupted. "Enough chit chat! We have a damsel to rescue."

Rico stepped up on the pad. Private stood beside him. Within minutes, their atoms were completely disintegrated and had cleared the pad. Once Kowalski was sure it was safe, Skipper and himself stepped on the pad. He pressed the button, and waited. Skipper didn't notice anything at first. It tickled a little. He felt his spine arch, and went lifeless. Darkness came. His sense of hearing, lost. No sense of smell, or feeling. It was like being born again. Feeling all your senses for the first time.

His eyes adjusted to the light. "Kowalski, why do my eyes hurt?" private asked

"Theoretically, because you have not used them in this universe." Kowalski answered. They turned to get a good look at their surroundings. It seemed to be Coney island again, but something was…off. Different, somehow. Skipper couldn't shake the feeling.

"Where are the rides? Or the cotton candy?" Private asked.

"I don't know Private. Maybe it's under demolition." Kowalski answered.

"Kaboom!" went Rico. his tongue hung out manically.

"Men, we don't know and to be honest I don't care. We need to find Marlene, stat." He slid off in the direction of the splash zone, and his team followed behind. Upon entering the splash zone, they saw a large amount of lobsters in a tank with water, slightly boiling. The lobsters were relaxing. It was a strange sight to behold, for in their universe, they had been Blowhole's minions. They kept going.

The entrance to the lair was the same, fortunately for them. Blowhole had no creativity in him it seemed. The rookery slid past a few doors until they heard a muffled "Help!"

Skipper stopped on a dime. Kowalski halted as well, but Rico and Private collided.

"Ladder door formation!" he ordered, immediately stacking themselves into a ladder for Rico to pick the lock. They opened the door, finding Marlene in a small cage, barely large enough for her to walk around in.

"Skipper! Private! Rico! Kowalski!" Marlene shouted gleefully

"Wow, that didn't take long at all." She told them.

"What do you mean? It took us an entire 27 hours to get here." Skipper asked.

"I've only been here for an hour or two, guys. What's going on?" she demanded, as Kowalski flipped through his notes.

"It appears that our worlds are not quantumatically aligned with each other. This would explain why Marlene thinks she's only been here for a few days, when in fact she has been missing from our universe for more than a day." Kowalski explained.

"So, wait. We're in a different _universe_?!" Marlene exclaimed. "Oh, and as if meeting Blowhole wasn't enough! I have to be in an entirely different _universe_! Kowalski, take me home!"

"Umm…yeah, about that…. We cannot go home until our replacements from this universe turn on the machine again."

"WHAT?!?!" Skipper and Marlene shouted simultaneously. Kowalski proceeded to explain.

"In order to get here, we had to send our alternate selves from this universe to ours in order to not upset the balance. Don't worry; I left them a note explaining what to do. It's so easy, a layman could do it!" he laughed.

"It's a good thing we heard your muffled scream, Marlene!" Private said. "But why did you muffle yourself?"

"What? I didn't scream…"

"well, of course you did. We heard you." Skipper told her.

"But I swear, I didn't!" she protested.

"Marlene, it's nothing to be ashamed of. A scream is healthy-" Private was cut off by the muffled scream again.

"See? I told you it wasn't me." She said.

"Sorry, Marlene. Then who is?" Skipper wondered. He pointed at Rico. "Rico!Flashlight!" Rico threw up a small nine-volt flashlight. Skipper turned it on in the direction of the back of the room. It was dark, but the flashlight brought the place some light.

"It's Ringtail!" Skipper exclaimed.

"Julian? What are you doing here?" Private asked, ripping the tape off his mouth.

"OW! Ow ow ow." They waited for him to get over it. "I don't know! One moment, I am in my kingly throne, doing my royal duties. This new otter comes over and captures me, taking me to this place. It is not fit for me. Take me home!"

Skipper sighed. "Come on. Let's figure out where we are." All of a sudden, the floor opened up beneath them and swallowed them whole. The penguins landed on their feet. Julien and Marlene, however, did not. The lights came on, and a lone fin cut through the water.

"Blowhole" skipper muttered. A fight was about to ensue…with civilians in the way.

"Well, peng-oo-wins. And lemur. We meet again." He snickered. "I bet you are wondering why I have had you transported to your original universe, Skipper."

"I am!" Marlene shouted. "Oh, sorry." She walked back into the shadow.

"anyway… yes. Nicolai was me! I cannot believe you fell for the old 'I survived!' line."

"Wait… you were Nicolai?" Marlene was shocked. How was that possible? Here was a dolphin, claiming he was an otter. Blowhole laughed. "In this universe, I have the power to change my form. I left here after becoming Nicolai, fooling all of you completely!"

Skipper and the penguins got into the fighting stances. "You won't destroy the humans now, and you never will. Whatever HE is telling you is a lie." Blowhole chuckled, and circled them on his scooter.

"No, Skipper, it is you who is lying to yourself. Have the humans really taken that much care of you? You know as well as I do that I am right, and you are wrong. Soo…." he pressed a button on his scooter, and net came out of the floor, prisoning everyone but Skipper, who it barely missed. Which was fine with Blowhole.

"good, you are not captured. That leaves my master a much more pleasurable job for you." Blowhole grabbed skipper, and disappeared back beneath the sea. Usually skipper would fight, but blowhole was too strong this time around. He plunged beneath the depths, held by the skin that was eerily pleasant to the touch.

**Please Review!!! I'm begging!!! Someone better tell me how my story is coming along!!**


	5. The Depths of the Master

**Here we go… Thank you for all the people that reviewed! Yes, that is what the button at the bottom of the page that says "Review" is for. Read it, Rate it, like it, or hate it. This is supposed to be a really short chapter, so I can get to more action in the next chapter! **

**The Depths of the Master**

Marlene held herself together. The only one missing was Skipper. Rico had easily hacked up a knife, and cut through the rope. But Blowhole had succeeded in his plan, to get Skipper. They stopped at the water's edge.

"Kowalski, I don't think we can hold our breath long enough to find Skipper in all that water." She worried. Kowalski looked at Rico and nodded. Rico proceeded to regurgitate four scuba masks, specially fitted for the penguins.

"Oh. I always knew you were prepared, Rico." Marlene smiled. They put the masks on.

"Wait, what about Julian?" Private asked. "I'm sure he'll be fine here." Kowalski answered. Their voices were heavy, and slightly mechanical. They splashed into the water, and headed down – following the bubbly stream of Blowhole and Skipper.

Marlene struggled to keep up, eventually tiring out and hanging on to Rico's foot to stay with them. A small cave approached them. A shadow crossed their path… a Navy sub passed by on it's mission. Two orcas encircled the cave.

"He's there. I can feel it!" Private said through the soupy mask. They pressed forward.

Skipper was chained to a wall. A small underwater cavern was his domain. Shadows jumped everywhere, from the lone candle.

"Soon, you will meet my master… the one you disobeyed so long ago…" Blowhole whispered in his ear. Skipper was too tired to make a comeback, and was trying to figure a way out.

"Stop it, young one. His stamina is weakened enough." A familiar voice called from the shadows. "Turn it on." Blowhole flicked on a switch, and a small helmet descended onto Skipper's flat head. After some adjustments, it was ready.

"You _will_ become one of us, like it or not. You have talents we need."Blowhole whispered again.

"I said knock it off, Jonathan." The familiar voice repeated. The eyes of the small genocidal creature emitted a certain innocence – that he could do no wrong. Skipper, holding on to his sanity by the smallest of hope, was finally pushed over the ledge.

He wasn't paying attention to anything now. Not the brainwashing, not Blowhole. Only HE clouded his mind.

Mort stepped out from the cavern's desolate shadows. "Yes, Skipper…. It is I." He laughed, evilly and cold.

**The MASTER is revealed! Stay tuned to see how Skipper and the gang get out of their predicament! **


	6. Submarine Panic

**Next chapter! Last chapter, we found out the shocking identity of the Master! How will the penguins cope with the revelation? How will they escape? Will Skipper survive? The end is near, only one chapter to go… will the penguins win the most epic fight of all time? Stay Tuned!**

**Submarine Revelation**

The team, minus skipper and plus Marlene, arrived at the entrance of the cavern. Skipper was there, chained to a wall. His eyes, bleak with sadness, had a slight maniacal tinge to them – much like Rico's when he went crazy and had an explosion fest with Julian. Marlene started to go to him, but Kowalski held her back.

"We don't know if it's safe. It could be a trap." He whispered. She understood, though it was killing her to see him in pain like that. The helmet on Skipper's head was raised, and – by some odd miracle – he was released from the shackles that bound him. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

The team waited to see if the coast was clear, then they went to help skipper up. Skipper stood fast, a sense of vertigo rushing to his head. Images- horrid images. Animals in cages. Illegal Puppy mills. A cove in Japan. Oil spills. An animal massacre, everywhere. A pure hatred for humanity was unleashed, and Skipper was the conduit. A hate so unnatural, it defied all known logic.

He pushed his friends out of the way, and swam for the surface. Upset by this sudden burst of outrage, his friends followed after.

"Where is he going?" Marlene asked. "Skipper! Skipper, we're right here! Remember?" He ignored her, swimming. His course changed to the Navy submarine.

He swam down the hatch, and into the sub. "We have no choice but to follow him." Kowalski said. "I wish there was some other option, but there isn't. we need to get him out."

Private went in first, followed by Rico, Marlene and Kowalski. They followed the trail of water drips to Skipper. He stood underneath a human, holding a piece of glass in his hands. He held it up to slice the leg of the man. Rico and Private tackled him, fighting in a mighty tussle. Marlene and Kowalski waited for the right time, and then held Skipper down.

Skipper struggled against their hold.

"Damn it all! Kowalski, let me go!" he shouted through his beak.

"Sorry, Skipper. But you're not well."

"I'm perfectly fine! Just let me go!"  
"What do you plan on doing to that human?" Private asked. ……..

"Nothing." he spat. He looked at their concerned faces.

"Skipper…"Marlene said, pushing him closer to the ground.

"Alright, I was going to kill him. Happy? Because that deranged lemur has shown me the _truth_. We are the true controllers of this planet, and humans are scum." Kowalski took some notes.

"An obvious brainwashing - It can be undone, but it will take a few minutes. It may hurt." Kowalski bumped Rico's elbow, and pulled out a device, similar to the one that went missing with Rhonda. He held it with Skipper's head in between, and pressed the button. A laser, green and orange, blew through his eardrums. His muscles went slack, and his eyes went black. Kowalski was worried something had gone wrong, but then Skipper stood up.

"Thank you, Kowalski. Men, I apologize for my condition. I – I should have been stronger… able to resist…" Marlene held his flipper, and looked at him.

"Skipper, no one thinks less of you for being brainwashed. You weren't yourself!" Skipper nodded, just as something hit the side of the sub.

"Orcas!" The man shouted, jumping up from his seat. He started pressing buttons, when the sub was hit again. Everything was knocked loose, and objects flew from the shelves. Private barely missed getting hit by a small Uzi. Everybody desperately tried to keep their balance, running against the tilt of the floor.

A small crack jutted out from the side of the submarine, letting water pour in. within seconds, the entire floor was covered in seawater. The orca's, under Mort and Blowhole's control, kept ramming the sub, intent on sinking it.

The water was now deep enough for the penguins and Marlene to swim away. If they could get out, maybe the humans would be safe. But from the way it sounded from their enemies, they would not. They reached the hatch, forming an upwards slide. Rico and Kowalski opened the hatch. When they finally got outside, they swam for the surface. One of the Orca's spotted them. He stopped crashing the sub, and went after our heroes.

Marlene started to disappear.

"Kowalski! We're going back!" she shouted joyously. Such a relief. They just had to swim for a while. But how long could they hold up? Rico was beginning to lag behind… The orcas were right on their tail feathers. Private, Kowalski and Skipper were neck and neck with each other. Rico and Marlene were right behind them. One of the Orcas snipped the end off of Marlene's tail.

The next lunge did not miss.

Jaws open, the orca shut them down with a vehement force onto Rico. The sea turned red, and Marlene kept swimming. There would be time to mourn later. These were her last thoughts as her atom particles disappeared altogether. Private disappeared with her.

It was just Kowalski and Skipper left. They swam. And swam. Kowalski didn't know if he could keep it up much longer. Everything was beginning to go black… a sure sign he was exhausting himself. He couldn't feel, couldn't taste the salty sea around him. Then he realized he was going back with skipper. He stopped for a split second, merely a split second, but it was enough. The orca's jaws imprisoned him in its mouth. The last thing Kowalski remembered was the roar of the Orca's throat as he returned home.

**Final Chapter coming up! The end of it all- and the stunning conclusion! And yes, Rico is dead. review to tell me what you think!**


	7. The End of Things

**The Final Chapter! This is where everything ends – the multi-universal fight of all fights! Will the team survive? Find out in the shocking conclusion –**

**The End of Things**

Marlene and Skipper walked through the Central Park, holding hands. Kowalski was back at base, busy fixing his transporter. Private stood on top of the ice floe, a determined look on his face. He was waiting for anything, ready for anything.

Kowalski made a shocking analysis. He gasped, and then redid the calculations. It came out the same.

"Oh, dear Mama." He whispered, pressing the red button. In minutes, the entire team was back in the HQ, and for now, Marlene was a part of the team.

"What's going on, Kowalski?" Marlene asked.

"According to this, our fiasco in the alternate universe has caused a sidestep in the timeline! The universes are slowly seeping together like a large melding pot."  
"Does that mean…"

"Indeed it does, Private. Life as we know it will cease to exist. Forever." Gasps rung through out the room. "And on top of that, Mort and Blowhole have appeared on my scanner."

"They're com-ing" Private said in a quiet voice. So quiet, they could barely hear him. It sent chills up their spine. One of the worst villains of all time – perhaps surpassing even more infamous characters like Hannibal Lecter, The Crimson King and Ben Linus- was coming to destroy their hopes. None knew what his true intentions were. They could only guess. None of their guesses would ever come close, though.

"How long do we have?" Skipper asked.

"Approximately 72 hours, Skipper. It may be a bit before that by the time Mort and Blowhole get here."

"Can we fix this? Think, Kowalski!" Kowalski looked over his notes and made some deductions. "There's only one way – to send you back to before this all happened, and have you change it so none of this ever happened."

"Wouldn't that cause a larger hole in the space-time continuum?" Marlene asked. Kowalski was still shocked at her intuitiveness. "Well, no, because the holes would never have opened in the first place."

"But then this wouldn't be happening, and yet it is… oh, my head hurts" Private said.

"Make it happen, Kowalski. We're wasting precious time here." The room shook with a loud explosion. The team put their heads up out of the fishbowl.

"Holy Heavens!" Skipper exclaimed. There was nothing there. All of New York was a desolate wasteland. The building still stood erect, but there were no cars. No people- no, they were all dead. A plaque overtook them. The animals could not get the disease because their physiological make-up was different. But what the plaque didn't kill the madness would. There were tall ferns already growing. Over head, a beast swooped on a bird, terrorizing the skies.

"Amazing…" Kowalski said, both in awe and fear. "A real pterodactyl! Skipper, the hole is larger than I thought!"A group of Indians walked through the zoo, clad only in home-spun clothes. They muttered something about salt.

"Kowalski, get to work!" Skipper ordered. They returned back to their HQ, and, just to be safe, Private locked all the locks to the HQ.

It would take Kowalski a day and a half to finish it, working nonstop. He was exhausted beyond reason, but it would not matter. Hunger pangs filled his stomach. When was the last time he had eaten? The day before – for breakfast. A quick fish while he waited for the software to upload.

He realized he couldn't help anyone if he couldn't think straight. He went over to the fridge and pulled out their cake. They were saving it for a special moment – well, this is the most special moment any organism would have to face. He set it on the table, and called the whole team over. They all stood around the table.

"I realize that since this is the last few hours of our existence, I want to commemorate this hour with something special. We'll miss everyone, down in the deep pit of our existence, even if we don't know if they exist. Cake is a good commemoration to all things both good and bad. Skipper?"

Skipper pulled a knife out of the drawer and cut the knife in fourths. He gave the first piece to Marlene, Private, then Kowalski and himself.

They ate their cake in utter silence. The tension was so thick, you could cut through it. Skipper, always the entertainer in his own little way, broke the silence.

"I love you guys. You are my family. Marlene, if it wasn't for my bad actions, we could have had a different future together. The worst part is that I saw it all, and I want it. I want it sooo badly. But such is not the way of things, is it?" Skipper sighed.

"So, I propose a toast. To today, yesterday, and the hopes that tomorrow will be a better day for our universes."

"Hear, Hear" Private echoed. They raised their punch cups, and drank. They followed Kowalski to the machine. Kowalski fired it up, and set the coordinates.

"Is-is it ready?" Skipper was near tears now. None of the team had seen him so emotional before. Marlene was bawling. Skipper hugged her, pulling her into the embrace.

"I love you, Marlene. I always will." He whispered in her ear.

Did it have to end like this? Marlene thought. She didn't want it to. But she couldn't stop his flippers from gently moving to her arms- to her hands. He stood on the pad, holding her in his eyes.

Suddenly, light filled the room with a loud banging. The cement ceiling was ripped apart. Two large humans, both resembling a Rhino in their own ways, were destroying their habitat.

"The Master wants you…" The large gray rhinoceros/man said. The brownish-yellow one grabbed Private and squeezed him. His eyes literally burst from their sockets, blood and intestine's everywhere. The remaining members of the team huddled in fear as skipper completely disappeared.

And everything went black.

Skipper woke up. "Marlene! Kowalski! Where- what happened? " he asked. He looked around. His familiar ice sheet, his friends and family out in the ocean. His best friend, Blowhole, looked at him strangely.

"You slipped on the ice and fell back down the mountain. Are you alright?" Blowhole asked

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Who's Marlene and Kowalski?" he asked.

"They're – You know, I don't know. Maybe I hit my head a little too hard." Skipper stood up with the help of Blowhole.

"Probably. You should go see medical."

"Alright." Skipper replied, and they walked off together.

And everything was good in the universe, because everything was over.

**THE END**

Somewhere, in the deep holds of the Penguin Navy….

A dark room. An ice desk held a resume on its top. A penguin with a Mohawk stood in front of the desk, and a taller penguin looked him over, glaring his eyes.

"So, you want to enter the Navy?" The taller penguin asked. "And what's your motive?"

"I wanted to see the world, and protect what little family I had left." Which was none, the smaller penguin replied.

"What is your name, Soldier?"

"Rico."

**OR IS IT?**

**Thanks to everyone who read this story, I really appreciate your reviews! This story really helped me become a better Fanfictioner, and I can't wait to get started on my next Story. Take care, and Review! I want to know what you thought of the ending!**


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